


Two of Them

by forget_me_nots



Series: Flight Rising AU [3]
Category: Flight Rising, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Canon Universe, Dragons, M/M, Shin Soukoku Big Bang 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26326561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forget_me_nots/pseuds/forget_me_nots
Summary: While chasing down an ability user, Atsushi suddenly finds himself transported to a different world. Everything is familiar but slightly... off. Ok. More than slightly off, everyone he knows is a dragon, and he has no idea how he's supposed to get back home.///Atsushi wakes up in an alleyway. Everything is familiar, but slightly... off. Ok, more than slightly off, everyone he knows is all weird and small, and he has no idea how he's supposed to get back home.
Relationships: Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs)
Series: Flight Rising AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913029
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21
Collections: Shin Soukoku Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Knowledge of Flight Rising/my other FR+BSD fic is not necessary! Atsushi doesn't know whats going on either, so it gets explained a bit more in this fic than previous ones.  
> I'll be posting chapter 2 in a few hours!

Atsushi finally managed to corner the ability user in an alley. He’d been tracking her all day, carefully following her around the city with the help of other members of the Armed Detective Agency. Kyouka was with him currently, acting as his backup, and Demon Snow hovered over the end of the alleyway, preventing Madeleine from… climbing, perhaps? Nobody was sure yet what her ability would do, and up until this point, they had all been incredibly careful.

Tanizaki had witnessed her making contact with the remnants of the Guild that had formed up with Steinbeck. Madeleine was an unknown piece in the vastly complicated puzzle that was the underworld of ability users within Yokohama. And they had to make that  _ unknown _ into a  _ known _ . Steinbeck on his own wasn’t too much of an issue, and as of yet, he had made no contact with any other ability users, from the guild or otherwise.

So naturally, they had to go after Madeleine. Atsushi had tried to approach her to talk, but she’d taken one look at him and ran, leaving him no choice but to chase after her.

Perhaps she’d seen him tailing her throughout the day. That was no good.

“Look, I know we’ve probably gotten off on the wrong foot, but really, I just want to talk,” Atsushi said, raising his hands, to show that they were both empty and human. He hadn’t used his ability at all during the short chase, although he wasn’t winded at all. 

Madeleine on the other hand, looked quite worn out and leaned against the alley wall, breathing hard and staring fearfully at Atsushi as he approached her. 

“What do you want?” she snapped.

“I work for the Armed Detective Agency, and we’ve been keeping an eye on Steinbeck and the others who stayed behind in Japan after Fitzgerald gave up leadership of the Guild. We’d like to know what you are doing here, and what your connection with Steinbeck-” 

“Stay back!”

Madeleine pushed off the wall, raising her hands towards Atsushi.

“Woah, woah, I’m not going to hurt you!” Atsushi said, backing off again.

“Call off your ghost, first,” Madeleine said and Atsushi turned back to the mouth of the alleyway, where Kyouka lurked, and nodded at her.

Demon Snow flickered back out of existence with a burst of luminous violet writing.

As soon as Demon Snow vanished, Madeleine lunged at Atsushi, strange blue writing spiraling from her outstretched hands.

Atsushi didn’t even have time to shout, because all of a sudden he was…

...in bed?

The alleyway was gone, and instead, he lay in a bed that he felt, somehow, was his own. But it wasn’t in the closet, where he usually slept. It  _ looked _ like a room that could possibly exist in his apartment back at the Agency. The style was consistent, and even the futon looked and felt the same, if a bit larger. But maybe that was just because it was spread out, and not bunched up in the closet.

This had to be something to do with Madeleine’s ability. 

Atsushi figured that Madeleine must have accidentally sent him back home to safety rather than herself. That had to be the reason why he was suddenly back in his apartment. He felt… dizzy, and even though he was worried about Kyouka being left alone with Madeleine, he dragged the futon into the closet and curled up to sleep. He’d deal with everything after he slept.

The familiar sound of Kyouka knocking on his closet door woke him in the morning.

“Atsushi, are you decent? I made breakfast.”

Groaning, Atsushi wiggled free from the closet. Decent? Not really, he’d slept in his work clothes for some reason, leaving them messy and wrinkled. His belt and the zipper for his pants had dug uncomfortably into his stomach, and he was sure it was going to bruise if he didn’t get up soon. 

“Just a minute,” he called. He’d have to change. He couldn’t go to work like this.

In the morning light streaming in through the cracks in the curtains, Atsushi rifled through his clothes stowed in the top of his closet. The first shirt he pulled out seemed to actually be a strange sort of undershirt, but the next bundle of white fabric was a proper button up. Still sleepy, he pulled it on, disregarding how poorly it fit, it was probably one that he’d been given by another member of the agency. His pants would be fine. The tiger would get rid of any lingering discomfort in a few minutes.

“Alright, ‘m all dressed. I thought it was my turn to make breakfast?” Atsushi said, pushing the door open.

And then did a double take. He closed the door, looked up at it (had his door always been so tall?) and then opened the door again. The creature still stood in front of the stove, back to him.

It was wearing Kyouka’s clothes, but a long red and gold tail swished back and forth slowly, dragging a silky tuft of black fur across the ground. The creature's long black mane was tied back in two low ponytails in the same way Kyouka liked to, and it looked just about the same height as her, too. The creature turned around and Atsushi and the creature both yelled fright at the same time.

It even  _ sounded _ like Kyouka and drew a knife and settled into the same fighting stance. But the creature had a long, scaley snout, and big golden eyes. One short horn grew from its forehead, like a unicorn, but the teeth it bared were sharp and almost doglike. 

“What kind of tailless serthis- what have you done to Atsushi!” The creature demanded.

“Wh-  _ I am _ Atsushi!” He exclaimed. “What have you done to Kyouka?” 

It snarled, and raised its knife higher. 

“You’re not Atsushi.”

“I promise I am! I don’t know what’s going on. I just woke up, and - what  _ are _ you?” Atsushi said. 

The creature narrowed its eyes.

“I’m a pearlcatcher. Surely you’d know that, if you really are Atsushi.”

A pearlcatcher? Atsushi’s eyes suddenly fell upon a large, grapefruit-sized orb that sat on the table. It glistened a pale nacre and Atsushi guessed that’s where the creature, the pearlcatcher, got its name. Maybe that was its ability?

“Is... that your ability, then? Catching pearls? Turning people into pearls and replacing them?” 

The pearlcatcher frowned, clearly confused.

“If you were Atsushi you would know I’m a light dragon.”

“A DRAGON?”

“You’re one too.”

“A pearlcatcher?”

“No, a gaoler.”

“A jailer? What- what do I guard? But I’m a detective!”

“Of course you’re a detective. Did you lose your memory along with your form?”

Atsushi sat down, clutching his head.

“A jailer?” He repeated, dazed. “I was just chasing after-“

Suddenly, he remembered his briefing on Madeline’s ability.  _ Transport through time and space, although we can’t be sure exactly how that works _ . Perhaps Madeline had sent him to some strange world filled with monsters like this pearlcatcher who sounded and acted like Kyouka and insisted he was a jailer or a sir-something with no tail.

“Something has gone terribly wrong. Um. You wouldn’t happen to know Dazai, would you? I think he’d be able to help send me back.” Atsushi said.

“Send you back?”

“Well it’s clear I’m not a jailer or a sir-this with no tail. I’m... I’m just Atsushi!” He said. “And I think I got sent here on accident.”

The pearlcatcher-Kyouka tipped her head and hesitantly set down the knife.

“He probably won’t be awake yet, but I could take you to see him. He doesn’t like people in his lair, though.”

“ _ Lair?” _ Atsushi said faintly. “Is Dazai a dragon too?”

Atsushi was struck with the mental image of an enormous, towering beast, wrapped in miles of bandages. It was equal parts terrifying and funny.

The pearlcatcher-Kyouka nodded.

“You should eat, first,” The pearlcatcher-Kyouka gave him another funny look. “I’m not sure if you’ll be able to eat the same serving as Atsushi usually does, you’re a little smaller.”

Atsushi sighed. Might as well eat before he went out into this strange world of dragons. He sat down at the table, where he usually sat, expecting raw meat, because what  _ else _ would a dragon eat? But he was given a regular breakfast and it seemed to lack meat entirely.

“Are you a vegetarian dragon?” Atsushi asked.

The pearlcatcher-Kyouka blinked.

“Pearlcatchers by nature eat plants and insects. I could eat fish and meat if I liked, but too much of it makes me sick. I suppose you could say I’m vegetarian.”

“And…. what do I eat, usually?”

“Gaolers prefer plants and meat.”

“Do you like boiled tofu?” Atsushi asked, and the pearlcatcher-Kyouka’s tail thumped against the ground, perhaps involuntarily in excitement.

“Yes.”

Maybe it really was Kyouka, after all. Her face remained just as stoic as ever, but her long tail and the barest hints of emotion in her voice gave away her true feeling. Even as… unfamiliar as she looked now, her patterns of speech and body language were familiar. He wondered if it was as strange for her to see him as he was now if she was used to a different looking version of himself.

Atsushi cleaned up after breakfast and Kyouka seemed to be watching him curiously.

“Do you have wings?” she asked finally.

“What? No, I’m… human? Mostly. Humans don’t have wings and neither do tigers, so of course not. Do you have wings, if you’re a dragon?” Atsushi said, putting away the last of the dishes from breakfast.

Kyouka nodded.

“They’re under my clothes, though. It’s impolite to have your wings out in public and I am dressed to go to work at the agency.”

Atsushi took a deep, bracing breath. 

“On that topic, can we go see Dazai?”

He wasn’t quite sure he was ready to go out and face a world that was almost certainly entirely full of dragons, but he probably never was going to be. 

Kyouka nodded.

Atsushi let Kyouka lead the way.

Outside was… the same and different all at once. The building they exited from was very similar in structure to the apartments that the Armed Detective Agency kept, but simply… larger. And outside, instead of the small and rather sad yard, was something resembling a courtyard, complete with some tasteful garden beds that seemed to be growing a mix of flowers and vegetables. The courtyard was tiled with pale yellow and white stone, although it seemed somewhat scraped in places. Beyond, the city was almost completely alien. There were no high-rising buildings and instead of concrete, the roads were built from a pale golden cobblestone. They were also wider. The buildings were built mostly of wood, or a similar pale stone, and in a style that was  _ almost _ familiar. Here and there, Atsushi spotted what appeared to be the ruins of older structures incorporated into the current cityscape. The ruins were built out of a smoother, paler rock. Marble, perhaps? 

The sound of knocking startled Atsushi out of his observations and he hurried to catch up with Kyouka, who stood before a door to one of the other apartments in the Agency’s dorms.

“He might still be asleep,” she said. 

Atsushi laughed nervously, not really knowing what else to do. He was too overwhelmed by everything. Hopefully, Dazai would be able to send him back to the world he belonged in and he could forget this like some kind of bad dream.

Kyouka’s ears suddenly perked up, Atsushi had to try not to laugh because it reminded him of an alert bunny, and then suddenly the door opened.

The dragon standing in the doorway was surprisingly similar to what Atsushi would have expected a dragon version of Dazai to look like. Tall, thin, angular, with a long, beaky face, six short curved horns, and an unkempt, feathery crest. With, of course, his characteristic bandages wrapped about his forearms and the lower half of his neck, vanishing down into his rumpled shirt. Atsushi got the impression that Dazai  _ had _ been asleep until Kyouka had knocked on his door. 

He blinked and seemed to do a double take upon seeing Atsushi, the exposed feathers on his neck rising slightly in shock. 

But it was clearly Dazai. 

“Dazai! Can you just-”

Atsushi lunged to grab for Dazai’s… hand? Paw? Claws? But Dazai dodged nimbly, though Atsushi still managed to grab onto his long tail, digging his fingers into the soft feathers. Dazai let out a startled squawk, but… nothing happened.

There was no flash of blue light and luminous characters, no flood of cold energy upon contact, nothing. Atsushi was just lying there awkwardly in Dazai’s doorway, clutching just below a bandaged section of what he thought had been Dazai’s tail.

“Oh no,” he groaned. “You’re not really Dazai, are you?”

“Is that supposed to be Atsushi?” not-Dazai asked Kyouka, pointing down at him.

It even  _ sounded _ like Dazai, but it couldn’t be, right?

“Yes, it’s Atsushi. But from a different world, he says,” Kyouka said.

“You are Dazai, right?” Atsushi asked again.

The tail he was clutching on to wiggled free, flicking a feathery tuft in his face and making him sneeze. 

“Yes, I’m Dazai.”

“Then how come- hold on.”

Atsushi rolled up his sleeve, transformed his paw into a tiger’s and pounced on Dazai’s tail again. Nothing happened. His hand remained a tiger’s paw.

“You don’t have No Longer Human?” Atsushi said incredulously. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’d appreciate it if you left my poor tail alone. It’s been through enough lately,” Dazai said, pulling his tail free of Atsushi’s grip again.

Atsushi suddenly didn’t even have the energy to remain sitting up and slumped back down to the floor. If Dazai didn’t have No Longer Human, then how on earth was he supposed to go back? 

“What am I going to do now?” Atsushi mumbled.

“Could either of you explain what’s going on?” Dazai asked. 

“I’m not even really sure myself, I was on a mission and chasing after an ability user and then all of a sudden I was  _ here _ and I was hoping you’d be able to send me back home,” Atsushi said.

“I’m going to assume you mean whatever world you’ve come from and not the apartment you’ve been living in. Well. I think I’d like to get dressed properly before I’m dragged off to work with you two. No need to wait up!” Dazai said in the false-cheery tone he often seemed to take when trying to divert a conversation. “Oh, and Kyouka? You may want to give him a mask or something so that he doesn’t draw too much attention.”

“Mask?” Atsushi asked, but Kyouka just nodded silently, and pulled Atsushi back to their shared apartment.

She rummaged around in the closet again before emerging with a strange mask of pale ceramic, and presented it to Atsushi.

“It’s a harpy mask. Just a trinket, as it’s made for creatures with a face like yours. People likely won’t look too hard if you wear it and stick close,” she said.

Atsushi accepted it and tied the mask on. The inside was cool and smooth against his face, though it didn’t exactly fit. It was clearly made to fit someone, some _ thing _ else. 

Kyouka nodded, looking him over.

“Good enough.”

Good enough it was. Atsushi hurried after Kyouka, careful not to step on her tail, and followed her to the Detective Agency. The buildings seemed like different architects had taken turns adding floors rooms, giving some of the taller buildings an odd sort of miss matched charm. Other dragons bustled about, going through their morning routines. Most tended to be pearlcatchers, like Kyouka, or a different kind of dragon Atsushi didn’t know the name for, but seemed remarkably similar to the dragons that typically came to mind when he heard the word “dragon” , with long, branching horns, elegant manes, trailing whiskers, and long, tufted tails. There were various other dragons as well, western-looking dragons with thick scales and fins; feathery, serpent-faced dragons; and even a handful of dragons that seemed to be entirely covered in thick fur. It was rather overwhelming. Atsushi was ready to collapse by the time he reached the office. He was just glad that all the dragons had simply taken one glance at him and continued about their business.

Unfortunately he knew he’d have no such luck at the detective agency.

As soon as Atsushi walked through the doors, he knew he’d caught Ranpo’s attention. Because there was nobody else the dark brown dragon, who appeared to be eating some sort of pastry, could be. He looked up, and suddenly several more bright green eyes opened up down the dragons neck. Atsushi shuddered, deciding that even if Ranpo pulling out his glasses and being dramatic about his ability was annoying and felt a little invasive when aimed at you, it felt nowhere near as scary as a dragon suddenly opening hidden eyes to stare at you. Atsushi would take the glasses and spectacle any day.

“Kyouka, where’s Atsushi, you two normally get here together. Is he feeling unwell today?”

A golden dragon, clearly Kunikida, approached the two of them.

“That’s Atsushi there,” Ranpo called, pointing a claw at Atsushi. “Though I think he has some explaining to do.”

Kunikida peered down at Atsushi through his glasses.

“Ranpo, that’s a harpy,” he said, a little dismissively.

Atsushi sighed and pulled the mask off.

“No, I am Atsushi, just… from a different world? Universe? I’m not even sure myself, really, but I ended up here on accident when someone in my world activated their ability and it caught me instead. I think. That’s my theory, anyways,” he said, fidgeting with the mask under Kunikida’s sharp gaze. “ I was hoping you might be able to help send me home.”

“Well if you’re here, then where’s our Atsushi?” Kunikida asked.

“Probably where he came from!” Ranpo said, flopping back in his chair. 

“I need to track down the ability user who sent me here. If you’re all… like the people I know from my home, except dragons, then surely there’s a Madeleine who is a dragon, and she might be able to send me back,” Atsushi said.

“That’s a good enough start as any,” Ranpo said. “Do you know anything about this Madeleine other than her name?”

“Er- she supposedly has ties with the guild?” Atsushi said, but Ranpo just blinked at him.

“American organization? Uhh there was… Fitzgerald? Louisa? Lucy?”

“Ah! Lucy may actually be a good person to talk to about your whole world switching thing!” Ranpo exclaimed. “After all, all that strange magic and stuff is really more of an arcane deal, I’m simply more of a down to earth concrete evidence kind of dragon myself!”

Kunikida frowned, and Atsushi couldn’t help but feel similarly confused. Ranpo’s powers of deduction really did seem magical most of the time. But, a lead was a lead, and if Lucy could help him…

“Where can I find Lucy?”

“She works at the coffee shop downstairs, it shouldn't be too hard to track her down! Could you get me some more snacks while you’re at it?” 

Atsushi sighed.

“Of course.”

A large, thick-furred red dragon with a truly impressive set of antlers stood behind the bar at the coffee shop. If the color of the dragon's fur was any hint, Atsushi guessed that this dragon was probably Lucy. 

“Are - are you Lucy?” Atsushi asked hesitantly, walking up to the counter.

The dragon looked down at him with shockingly bright pink eyes.

“Yeah? Who’s asking?” She said.

Just as snappy as ever.

“I’m Atsushi. It’s kind of a long story.”

She leaned closer, and Atsushi had to resist the urge to back away. 

“You do have the same bad haircut, I suppose. What happened to you?”

Sitting down at the counter, Atsushi explained for the third time that morning how he ended up in this strange, alien-yet-familiar version of Yokohama.

And to her credit, Lucy listened quietly, and even gave him a cup of coffee (which seemed a little large to him, but it was probably meant for dragons anyways). Atsushi sipped at his coffee while Lucy paced behind the counter in thought, long tail flicking back and forth.

“Well. I don’t know anything about this ‘Guild’ but I do know the people you said were members. Most of them are on the coast in the Shifting Expense. Roughly a week or so of travel, less if you could convince one of your detective friends to fly you. Maybe you could find Madeleine there. Or she could be in the Starfall Islands,” Lucy said finally.

“Could you take me there? To the Guild?” Atsushi asked. “I mean, you can fly, right?”

Lucy stared at him for a moment, before she burst out laughing.

“I’m a Gaoler! So are you, actually. Neither of us can fly. Gaoler wings are too small.” 

“Right,” Atsushi said, hiding behind his mug of coffee. How was he supposed to know that? Maybe he could ask Kyouka.

“But you could give directions to find them?” 

Lucy nodded, her antlers coming dangerously close to knocking on the counter. 

“They’re almost on the edge of the Ashfall Wastes, right at the southern ocean. There’s a big rock outcropping that looks a bit like a whale. Most of the clan lives in there.”

Atsushi didn’t understand half of that, but he was sure someone else would.

“Ranpo mentioned the whole world switching thing was more of an arcane problem?”

“Yes, arcane magic does tend to deal with stuff like that. It’s probably why he sent you to me in the first place. I am the closest arcane dragon to the detective agency, but I’m hardly skilled in magic. I mean, do you think I’d be here making coffee if I knew how to send dragons to different worlds? I’d be at the observatory teaching exalts! Or studying at the lighthouse!”

Lucy sighed and slumped over on the counter.

“I bet if I just had actually grown up in my hatchclan I’d know something about magic. I’m the wrong dragon to be asking.” 

Atsushi gingerly reached out to pat her arm comfortingly. 

“Well. If you do end up having to go to the Starfall Islands I’d be happy to accompany you. Maybe I’d finally learn something.”

“Out of curiosity, how long would it take to reach the Starfall Islands?” Atsushi asked.

“Depends on how you want to get there. The fastest route goes through the Scarred Wasteland. But that’s also the most dangerous route. It would still be about, oh, at least a month? Maybe more? Longer if you went around through Dragonhome, and at least two months if you went through the plateau.”

Atsushi choked on his coffee.

“Months?”

“Well, there’re on the other side of the continent,” Lucy said.

Dejected, Atsushi made his way back up to the detective agency with the pastries he got for Ranpo. He didn’t have any money on him, and so he put both the coffee and the sweets on his tab. Surely, he’d either get the money to pay it off soon, or he’d just leave the charges for his dragon self to pay off once they switched back.

_ Months _ . 

He hoped the Guild, or their dragon versions, would be able to help.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the other Yokohama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kokorei.jay on Instagram was my partner for the BB and drew an AMAZING drawing for this fic! It's super cute and makes me so increadibly happy! It's embedded down at the bottom of this chapter, and their links are also down in the end notes! Please go give them a follow, they're an amazing artist!

Atsushi has been sleeping very nicely after a long day of work. He’d been exhausted, and had just pulled out his futon and collapsed on it fully dressed. Which was just fine every once and awhile, and a perfectly normal thing to do after spending the day chasing down a particularly difficult suspect who had been stealing exalt records from a rival clan. Atsushi was tired. Too tired to even free his wings.

And when all of a sudden he was standing upright in a very strange, dark alleyway, well, perhaps that was for the best.

Groaning, he rubbed at his eyes.

“Shadowbinder’s sludge, what is it this time?” 

And then he squinted down the darkness of the alley.

A small beastclan lady stood frozen against the wall, staring back at him in horror.

“Did I sleepwalk? Was I sleepwalking? I’m so sorry, I had no intention of frightening you, miss, I think I’ve been sleepwalking,” he said.

It was a very strange alley that Atsushi woke up in. The ground under his feet was dark and rough and seamless and the walls to either side were brick, with fading graffiti. The air smelled odd, like garbage and some sort of smoke. Acrid. Industrial. There was a distant whiff of sea air (rotting seaweed, salt, fish) and cooking food (roasting meats and fish and faint spices and frying oil). 

Atsushi turned in a slow circle, taking the alley in. Near the mouth, there were strange, shiny black bags. And another small beastclan creature in a red kimono, like the one Kyouka had. It was also staring at him.

“Atsushi?” 

It even sounded like Kyouka.

“Yeah?” He said.

“You’re Atsushi.”

“Yes, who else would I be?”

“What happened? Wh- did you try and turn into the tiger?”

Tiger? 

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”

Atsushi scratched under one of his ears. He could have sworn that he went home and went to bed. He hadn’t been drinking and he certainly would have remembered if he’d gone out to such a strange place with two beastclan.

“I’m Kyouka. We were on a mission together?” She prompted and Atsushi stepped closer to try and get a better look. The stranger claiming to be Kyouka shrank away. 

Atsushi paused and looked into the street beyond as an odd, rumbling, mechanical sound filled the air, bringing with it the choking, thick acrid scent. Light bloomed on the dark street beyond and suddenly, a strange contraption of sleek, colored metal and dark glass zoomed by. Brilliant electrical lights shone like eyes at its front and burned like red embers on its back. Atsushi stared in disbelief. Such a piece of technology was not common at all in the Sunbeam Ruins. Perhaps he had stumbled across the secret lair of some displaced lightning inventor?

“Where are we?” He asked.

“Yokohama.”

Just then, two more of the strange machines rumbled past, each in a slightly different design, but no less choking in scent. 

Atsushi looked up, towards the night sky, and nearly felt his legs give out.

The sky.

Even though of course, in the Sunbeam Ruins, the lands of the Lightweaver Herself, light was ever present. But even the dragons of the light lands knew to give their respect to the lesser sources of light in the night time, and unless there was need for them, covered, dimmed, or put out their lanterns, lamps, and lights. It was a matter of respect, not only to the land and the forces of nature, but to one's fellow dragons, who may prefer to sleep in the comfortable dark of nighttime. And of course, to honor their sister flight of Shadow. For there could be no light without its absence and no dark without the light. 

But the sky here, though dark, had no stars Atsushi recognized. Light glowed from the wrong horizon, distant light flooding the night and drowning paler stars. The sky was full of black where there were no stars at all, and only one singular sliver of a moon.

One moon. The only time there was ever one moon in the sky was when the moons were setting or rising, and the first slipped past the horizon.

But the single moon hung high in the sky, curved in a smile-like crescent, as if mocking Atsushi.

“Where  _ am _ I?” 

Atsushi sat on the floor of the dormitory. It was disorienting. Familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. And smaller. Apparently the “hyooman” Atsushi slept in the closet because there was no spare room. In fact, the one bedroom likely would have been uncomfortably small even for Kyouka’s fours.

Atsushi shook his head and nearly whacked his horns against the wall, forgetting the dimensions of the room. Kyouka didn’t have another form, not here, not in this world. So there wasn’t a need for a spare room. Apparently. And the machines on the road were called “cars” and the device Kyouka used to contact the rest of the detective agency on their way back was a “cell phone.” 

How on Sornieth they had managed to make a phone so small it could fit into your pocket and needed no wires was beyond Atsushi. He was tired and overwhelmed. At least in the little apartment it smelled familiar. He wanted to take Fours and curl up, but he wasn’t sure there would even be space. Exhausted, he slumped over. 

“It’s a lot, isn’t it?” Kyouka said quietly.

Atsushi hummed.

“Is it ok if I take my wings out? It’s uncomfortable and I’m tired,” he mumbled.

Kyouka stared at him, before standing up and opening the closet to pull out the futon.

“You’re not going to sleep on the floor,” she said stubbornly. “With those horns you probably won’t fit in the closet. I’m going to stay with Yosano tonight and you can sleep here. I’ll be back in the morning.”

Of course she wouldn’t be staying in a room with a strange dragon. For that, Atsushi was slightly glad. Kyouka, even as young as she was, was sensible. He was also glad, he didn’t want to be rude, having his wings out around strangers. Some of his friends and coworkers had no qualms about having their wings out in public, but Atsushi had grown up in a very strict orphanage. They hadn’t even let him sleep with his wings out. It had taken Yosano telling him it was causing a strain on the muscles in his back and sides to keep his wings folded constantly for him to relax out of that particular habit, though it was still a hard habit to break.

Once Kyouka left, Atsushi carefully unbuttoned his shirt and then pulled off the undershirt that kept his wings folded down against his back. He was a Gaoler and therefore flightless, but if he kept his small wings folded down for too long it did become uncomfortable. Stretching his wings, he settled down in the futon Kyouka had pulled out for him. It was smaller than the futon he usually slept in and it smelled slightly different, more feline, almost, like he’d been sharing blankets with a cat. But it was warm and familiar enough. He’d deal with whatever strangeness was going to happen in the morning. After he slept.

Atsushi half expected to wake up back in his own room in the morning, but no, he woke in the too-small apartment to the sound of a knock on the door, cars passing outside, and the smell of cooking breakfast. Kyouka must have returned.

“Atsushi, are you decent? I made breakfast.”

He almost protested, insisting it was his turn, before he remembered that he probably would have had no clue what to cook with whatever ingredients were in the too-small Hyooman apartment.

“One moment,” Atsushi called, pulling his undershirt back on before hurriedly buttoning on his work shirt. He’d have to make do with the same clothes for now, as he doubted he’d be able to fit any that were meant for the hyooman Atsushi. If the size of the apartment and Kyouka were anything to go by, any shirts here would be too small. Not to mention, the pants would probably lack a hole for his tail. Unless he wore them backwards, perhaps…

No, that would be too silly, and his fur would get caught in the zipper and be uncomfortable. 

Ducking through the doorway, Atsushi surveyed the food lain out on the table. It looked… familiar enough. 

“Sorry about commandeering your bedroom,” Atsushi said sheepishly. “Any way you might have a spare toothbrush?”

“Under the sink.”

The toothbrush was almost comically small compared to his teeth, but it did the job. He considered the comb and brush that were sitting out on the sink, before deciding that he could just tame his mane with his claws and call that good. He didn’t want to risk breaking what were clearly Kyouka’s belongings. 

“Do you mind cooked meat?” Kyouka said when Atsushi sat down at the small table.

Atsushi blinked.

“I’m a Gaoler. And I’m civilized. I can eat plants and meat. I mean, I suppose I don’t mind the occasional seafood dish, or insect snack, but neither really agree with my stomach much.”

“Insects?”

Atsushi nodded.

“I have some… close friends who are mainly insectivorous and you get a little curious after a while,” he said, carefully picking up the bowl and the fragile-feeling chopsticks that had been set out for him. 

“How are you planning on figuring this out?” 

Atsushi chewed thoughtfully, flicking his tail back and forth.

“Well, I was thinking I might ask Lucy. Oh, wait. You know Lucy, right? Carmine Gaoler, big horns?” 

Kyouka cracked a small smile, which Atsushi figured was her equivalent of bursting into laughter.

“Well, she’s not a Gaoler, and she doesn’t have horns, but she does have some rather striking red hair. She works at the cafe below the agency.” Kyouka tapped her chopsticks against the rim of her bowl pensively. “She does have connections with the guild. Asking her about Madeleine wouldn’t be a bad idea. Nobody has yet.”

“Madeleine… is she the one who sent me here?”

“Probably. She was the other person in the alley,” Kyouka said.

Atsushi hummed, thinking. The beastclan lady who has cowered away from him when he’d woken up in the alley. He’d been too sleepy at the time to get a proper look at her, and had been more interested in the “cars.” If he’d know she was important, he would have kept an eye on her, or at least tried to pick up her scent.

Although, as soon as Atsushi stepped out into the busy street, he wanted to cover his snout with his hands. The city was far busier than he could have possibly expected, safe in the tiny little familiar room in the agency’s dormitory. Cars zipped by on the street, and the air was full of so many different scents, all choked with car exhaust. Even if he could remember Madeleine's scent, he wouldn’t have been able to pick it up through all this.

“Just- try not to move your tail around too much,” Kyouka said. “Or blink. Or talk. Maybe people will think you’re just a mascot or something.”

People  _ were _ staring at Atsushi, more than he was used to. And it was hard  _ not _ to move his tail around, he didn’t want to hit people with it. He opened his mouth to point this out, and Kyouka elbowed him in the ribs.

“I want to talk to Lucy first,” Atsushi mumbled, trying his best not to open his mouth.

“Fine.”

After the crowded walk, the Cafe on the ground floor of the office building was blissfully free of people. Unfortunately, as soon as Atsushi walked through the door, habit took over as soon as he saw a familiar flash of red hair. He felt the back of his neck prickle as his mane puffed out and he let a low, chuffing growl build in his chest as he lowered his head in preparation to bluff charge with Lucy.

“What-”

The sound of breaking ceramics made Atsushi pause.

“What the  _ fuck _ is that?”

A red-haired “hyooman” was pointing at him and Atsushi remembered that  _ this _ Lucy wouldn’t be playfully threatening to ram him. Hurriedly, he tried to smooth down his mane again. 

“Sorry. Uh. I’m Atsushi? I was wondering if you’d be able to help me out,” he said. 

It was an awkward beginning to a very awkward day.

Not only did it seem like that the Atsushi from this world hadn’t nearly been with the Agency as long as he had, but there seemed to have been considerably more conflict between the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency in the short time that he  _ had _ . Which did have the upside of allowing the two organizations to be a bit closer. 

“So I could just… go and ask Akutagawa to help me find Madeleine?” Atsushi asked.

Kyouka pulled a face.

“I guess you could, but why?”

“Because he’s helpful,” Atsushi said. “He’s an ar-”

Atsushi paused. Right. It didn’t matter if Akutagawa was an arcane dragon who was a decently proficient mage, because here, he’d just be another “hyooman.” 

Kyouka did not seem convinced, but even back home, she didn’t particularly like Akutagawa that much. But Atsushi had made  _ plans _ a whole two weeks ago to see Akutagawa, and he wasn’t going to let something like switching worlds stop him. 

“The mafia might have information we don’t,” Atsushi pointed out.

“Then it would be easier to just let Dazai communicate with them. Akutagawa doesn’t exactly specialize in intelligence,” Kyouka said, and then smirked. 

“Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Even if he is a ‘hyooman’ here, I doubt it’s made him stupid,” Atsushi said, rolling his eyes, but he didn’t push the subject further. At least with Kyouka.

“On a snack run for Ranpo?”

Atsushi shook his head.

“I was wondering if you had Akutagawa’s phone number? Everyone here has phones, right?”

Lucy stared at him skeptically.

“I mean, yeah, most people have phones, but why do you think  _ I _ would know the phone number of some creepy mafia murder-man?” she said, crossing her arms. “And why would you want his phone number, anyways? I thought you hated him.”

“I- I don’t hate him! We’re…” Atsushi paused, trying to collect his thoughts. Right. Things were different here. He didn’t know  _ this _ Lucy, or Akutagawa. “Well,  _ my  _ Akutagawa is very close with me, and I think he’d be helpful here, too.”

“ _ Your _ Akutagawa?” Lucy repeated. 

“Well, how else am I supposed to differentiate between the one here and the one where I’m from?” Atsushi said, lashing his tail in exasperation. 

“I suppose that… kind of makes sense. Anyways, you’d have better luck asking one of your detective friends,” she said.

Atsushi slumped against the counter, but Lucy shoved him off of it.

“No, you’ll get your icky fur everywhere! I just cleaned up!”

“It’s not icky! And anyways, I… even if the relationship between the Port Mafia and Armed Detective Agency is better here, it’s none of their business my own personal relationship with Akutagawa,” Atsushi said.

“It’s not like the detectives from your world are suddenly going to know that you’re all ‘very close’ with  _ your _ Akutagawa if you just ask to get in contact with the Akutagawa here. Wow that’s really a sentence to say.”

“It’s all very headache-inducing,” Atsushi agreed.

Which is why Atsushi nearly  _ didn’t _ sneak out that night. Well, it wasn’t really sneaking considering he was the only one in the small apartment, but it still felt like sneaking. Sure, he was tired, his wings were starting to ache a little bit and even though it was night time, there were still a considerable amount of people still out and about. 

But he was going to find Akutagawa, even if it meant tracking down the Port Mafia headquarters and sneaking his way in. Atsushi doubted he’d be able to do any proper sneaking, but he supposed he could probably walk in, state his affiliation with the detective agency, and hope for the best. First, he was going to try and find his way down to the riverside, where it emptied out into the bay. He’d figure out a further plan from there.

Even in a place that felt very much like it was Port Mafia territory, and was entirely devoid of people, Atsushi still felt like he stood out. The streets felt too narrow and the buildings too tall. 

“Ok, come on now, just… look for some even more suspicious activity than a big dumb gaoler poking around the riverside,” Atsushi muttered to himself. He figured that if he went looking for trouble, Akutagawa couldn’t be too far behind. 

_ Unless he’s been sent out of town, _ his mind supplied helpfully. 

Even if he was, his out of the ordinary appearance would certainly draw someone from the Port Mafia eventually-

Something sharp and black shot past the side of his face and Atsushi yelped, spinning around. His mane puffed up involuntarily, expecting a fight. 

“Look, I don’t want to fight, I don’t have a change of clothes so I’d rather not ruin these,” Atsushi said, raising his hands as a tall, thin human stepped into view. A very familiarly dressed tall, thin human.

Akutagawa.

Atsushi felt the tension drain from his shoulders and even his wings seemed to stop aching so much. 

He was a pale human, with black hair that framed his face, fading to white at the tips. His coat and cravat were the same. The most dramatic difference, other than his general lack of wings, tail, claws, and fins, was his height.

“You’re tall,” Atsushi blurted, and Akutagawa’s glare sharpened.

“What are you? And what are you doing here?” Akutagawa snapped.

“Looking for you. You  _ are _ Akutagawa, right?”

“What are you?”

“A gaoler. From the driftwood drag. My name is Atsushi Nakajima, though, if you were wondering that as well.”

“You’re not Nakajima. I know the weretiger, and you are certainly not him.”

Atsushi shrugged.

“Thanks to an ability user, there’s been a bit of a mixup, and your Atsushi has switched places with me. At least, that’s what I think happened. I was hoping you’d be able to help,” he said.

“Madeleine L’Engle?”

“Yes. She’s the one that switched us.”

Akutagawa seemed to consider that for a moment.

“I don’t need any help from you, especially if you’re really the weretiger.”

“So you’re also looking for her.”

“What I’m doing is none of your business.”

Akutagawa turned to leave, and an idea dawned on Atsushi. It was mean, risky, and had a higher chance of causing Akutagawa turning hostile than actually working, but it was worth a shot. Leisurely following after him, Atsushi cleared his throat.

“Well, you see, Dazai mentioned-”

Akutagawa’s head snapped around so fast Atsushi swore he could hear the bones in his neck click.

“Dazai?”

“He was the one who said I should go looking for you! That uh because back on Sornieth, that is, I mentioned that you’re an arcane dragon, which is like, I don’t really know it’s kind of strange, but its powerful magic that’s pretty good when it comes to different worlds and dimensions and stuff, and Dazai said something about your uh… ability. And that-”

“He mentioned my ability?”

Nobody had mentioned Akutagawa’s ability. Atsushi had no idea what Akutagawa’s ability was.

“Yeah. He said it was really strong,” Atsushi said, hoping that he didn’t sound too hesitant.

“If Dazai wants us to work together, then you’d better cooperate, got it?”

“Only if you do,” Atsushi teased, and then had to jump back when a long blade of darkness stabbed into the ground where he had been standing a heartbeat before. The hem of Akutagawa’s cloak rippled and a dragon’s head, angular and seemingly composed of the same dark fabric, rose from the back of the coat. It’s mouth hung open in a silent snarl, glowing the same brilliant red as its eyes. Atsushi shivered and felt his mane puff out again. The ability to summon a dragon out of his coat? It certainly was a powerful ability. 

He could only hope it would be a  _ helpful _ one too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.instagram.com/p/CEz6yghAcza/?igshid=5qxwy4vqgegt (link to the art)  
> https://www.instagram.com/kokorei.jay/


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It felt peaceful, even before they entered the park. Atsushi felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders. It wasn’t like any of the parks back in the Yokohama he knew at all, but it was very beautiful. Dazai’s pace slowed and he still steered Atsushi over to a glass-windowed storefront.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I was going to update this like, weeks ago. But here we are. enjoy!

Atsushi didn’t sleep well, his mind too full of the thoughts of all the  _ traveling _ he was going to have to do, in some alien world where everything was just a little too big, bright, and scaly for him. If he didn’t get the answers and help he needed with the Guild, then he’d have to go on a months-long wild goose chase with absolutely no leads at all.

At least, when night fell, it was  _ dark _ . Very little light filtered through the window, other than silvery starlight, and the pale light of not one, but multiple moons. He could feel the tiger’s interest at that, the primal desire to go out and explore this new territory he’d found himself in.

In the morning, Kyouka presented him with some additions to his costume with her familiar masked but earnest excitement. He took one look at it and decided he’d still wear his pants underneath the flowing airy tunic and cape. The fabric was lightweight, and a pale cream color. It matched the mask, and Kyouka’s tail thumped against the floor, pleased, when she saw him in the full costume.

“Now you look like a proper stonewatch harpy,” she said.

Atsushi just nodded, unsure of what that meant, and followed her to the agency.

A short while later, Atsushi found himself hurrying along after Dazai. The streets were bustling with a mid-morning crowd, a riot of glittering, brilliant scales and horns, sharp suits and flowing silks. The denizens of this version of the city seemed to like formal wear of both traditional and modern varieties.

“Um, where are we going?” Atsushi asked for a third time.

“Why, the park of course! You seemed rather worked up in the office, sooo” Dazai waved a hand in a familiar flippant gesture. “I think you’ll like the park. And we can get some pastries!”

Atsushi blinked in confusion. While it was certainly in line with Dazai’s character to skive off work, it was odd he’d include Atsushi in on it.

“Pastries.”

“Well, of course! There’s a nice cafe near the park, and they make the most excellent pastries. Probably because they have a Coatl in charge of baking them. Anyways, you’ll love it. Ranpo loves them. We’ll have to bring some pastries back for him, of course, but it’s a great excuse to get out.”

The crowds finally seemed to thin and the wide road opened up to a pleasant expanse of gold-green grass, trees strung with glowing baubles, and pleasant pathways of gravel that lead off into some well-manicured stands of trees, what looked like a flower garden, and even a nice little pond. A few dragons strolled along the pathways, and one couple sat in the shade of the trees, holding hands and talking.

It felt peaceful, even before they entered the park. Atsushi felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders. It wasn’t like any of the parks back in the Yokohama he knew at all, but it was very beautiful. Dazai’s pace slowed and he still steered Atsushi over to a glass-windowed storefront. Atsushi caught a pale glimpse of his reflection in the glass for a moment, but what was beyond it was what intrigued him more. Large and delicate pastries, cakes of all sizes, and cookies in a variety of colors. Some were familiar, flakey horn-shaped pastries that resembled croissants, puff-pastries of various different shapes, and small, fruit-filled pies. Others were vastly unfamiliar, some oddly tall and oblong pastries that reminded Atsushi of cacti, some that looked like burnt and charred beyond edibility, a croissant-like pastry but topped with luminous slivers of  _ something _ , and a dangerously teetering stack of airy-looking meringues. He was already so shocked and amazed at the variety of beautiful looking foods he’d stumble across in his own version of Yokohama that it was rather overwhelming to be suddenly encountering even more fantastic and delicious-looking foods in this new world.

“Come on, they’re even better up close,” Dazai said, startling Atsushi from his stupor. 

Atsushi nodded and followed him inside. A little bell attached to the door rang as they entered, and a feathered serpentine head lifted up from behind the counter. The dragon’s feathers were a mostly deep orange, as were her eyes, but the feathers running down her throat were a softer hue, and seemed to shine and sparkle. Longer and darker orange feathers swept back from her head, with swirls of light gold shimmering across them. She wore a loose and light yellow uniform under a white apron. She must have been the Coatl that Dazai had mentioned.

“Hmmmmmmm a new familiar, Dazai?” she asked

The dragon’s voice was low and sing-song, and she flicked out a long forked tongue after speaking, like the caricature of a snake. Atsushi half expected her to hiss her s’s like one too. Dazai laughed, and placed a clawed hand on Atsushi’s shoulder.

“No, a friend. This is… Lune,” he said. “He’s new to the Sunbeam Ruins, so I’m giving him a tour. He’ll be on his way soon enough. I just wanted to give him the highlights, you know?”

Atsushi looked up at Dazai, confused for a moment before remembering. Right. If this was a place that Ranpo liked to eat, it was likely somewhere that he, or rather, the Atsushi of this world, would probably be sent to do errands. It would be confusing to introduce him as “Atsushi” to dragons who knew this world’s Atsushi if he wasn’t going to be interacting with them more than just one or two times.

The Coatl of course thought nothing of it and nodded, her long feathered crest bobbing. She pulled out a box and set it down on the counter.

“I see. The usual order then, then? Hmmmmmm…”

“Yes, that would be great. And if I could luminous almond horn and a claw pie in a separate bag? One of the non-spicy pies,” Dazai said.

The Coatl hummed in reply, and busied herself with retrieving an assortment of different pastries into the box she’d taken out, before grabbing one of the glowing croissant-like pastries and a smallish pastry that looked rather like a semi-circular pocket of pie crust. From one of the small slits cut into the top, it dripped a dark purple jam. 

“Blackberry good?” The Coatl asked, and Dazai nodded.

“Perfect, perfect. Have a nice day!”

Instead of directly heading back to the Armed Detective Agency, Dazai walked to the park, and sat down in the shade under one of the trees, setting down the box of pastries beside him.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just head back?” Atsushi asked.

“Naw, you need some time to relax!” Dazai insisted, passing the bag of the two separate pastries to Atsushi. “Here. The pie is yours.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

Atsushi carefully pulled out the “claw pie” and looked it over. It was still slightly warm, and it certainly  _ smelled _ fine. But what was a blackberry? Was that even something humans could eat?

“It’s perfectly fine!” Dazai insisted, pulling out the glowing croissant.

Gingerly, he nibbled at a corner of the crust, looking out over the park. It was certainly a nice place, and the pie was very tasty but-

“Lucy said the Guild is in the south of the… Shifting Expanse? Have you ever been there?”

“I’ve been to the Shifting Expanse before, yes. In fact, that’s about as far south as I’ve been, but still it was rather close to the border of the Ruins, so… not that far.”

Atsushi sighed.

“You’re a… Skydancer, right? That means you’ve got wings big enough to fly. Could you-”

He cut himself off. As he’d been looking out over the park, absently watching the dragons occupying it go about their business, walking or lounging in the sun, one had suddenly caught his eye. Slightly shorter than the other dragons Atsushi had seen, with large and tattered fins. Strangely, this particular dragon also hadn’t tucked away its wings, white and black and just as distressed as it’s fins. There was something sickeningly familiar about the dragon’s dark coloring and monochromatic dress. And the fact that it was walking straight towards where Dazai and Atsushi were sitting.

“Yes?” Dazai said. 

He clearly hadn’t noticed the dragon approaching them yet.

“Um, do you know them? I think there’s someone-”

“Dazai!”

There was no mistaking the dragon’s voice. It had to be Akutagawa. Atsushi gulped down the last few bites of his pastry and hurriedly climbed to his feet, ready for a fight.

However, Akutagawa ignored him entirely, instead marching right up to Dazai.

“What have you done with Atsushi?” Akutagawa demanded.

Atsushi nearly choked.  _ What? _

“Ah, I believe the way one typically starts conversations is with a ‘good morning’, Akutagawa,” Dazai said.

Akutagawa’s fins seemed to tremble with rage.

“I know you’ve done  _ something _ ! He wouldn’t have missed last night unless he got caught up in one of your schemes. Where is he.”

Atsushi could only stare in shock. He’d had a meeting with Akutagawa last night? And clearly one that wasn’t known to anyone else at the Agency, surely, or they would have reminded him. Or maybe in all the chaos they’d forgotten. Oh no, was he working on a case where he’d needed to retrieve some information from Akutagawa? He’d probably set everyone back, and he’d angered Akutagawa to boot. 

“Your dear Atsushi is right here. Well. A version of your dear Atsushi,” Dazai said.

Akutagawa fixed his glare on Atsushi, before turning back to Dazai, waving dismissively.

“Don’t be silly, that’s just some harpy you can’t-”

Atsushi pulled off his mask.

“It’s kind of complicated.”

Whirling, Akutagawa stared at him again. His eyes were large, taking up most of the dragon's dark-scaled face, and a similar brilliant magenta to Lucy’s. Another arcane dragon. He studied Atsushi, his glare intensifying. 

“What have you done to my boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Atsushi yelped. “Wait wait wait, no, I think  _ that _ is more complicated than whatever’s sent me here, I- there’s no way, I can’t- I don’t even-  _ Akutagawa? _ And  _ me _ ?”

“Of course not  _ you _ , you’re not Atsushi,” Akutagawa said. “You’re some scrawny hairless creature.”

“Excuse me! I am not a creature! And I am too Atsushi! I’m just- I got switched with the Atsushi Nakajima that you know. And he’s probably in the world I’m from while I’m stuck here!”

“Well, now that we’ve gotten that over with, we can all go on our merry way!” Dazai said, dusting powdered sugar off of his hands and standing up. “Your precious Gaoler will probably be gone until this Atsushi manages to make his way down to some southern Lightning clan.”

“And what would a Lightning clan know about whatever magical mishap switched Atsushi with this beast?”

“It’s where Lucy is from-”

Akutagawa’s expression darkened at the mention of Lucy, and Atsushi instantly felt as if he’d misstepped again.

“-and the Lucy from my world is from the Guild, formerly, and the ability user I was tracking down before I got sent here is another Guild member. Therefore- lightning clan,” Atsushi said.

Akutagawa snorted, and his fins twitched, lowering slightly.

“You likely would have had better advice simply asking Lucy herself. But as it stands, I am a far better mage than Lucy. I could help you.”

“How do I know you won’t just lead me off to some back alley and kill me?” Atsushi said suspiciously.

“Because I have a feeling that if I do kill you, then I’ll never get my Atsushi back.”

Atsushi swallowed. He wasn’t entirely sure he felt about hearing the words “My Atsushi” come out of Akutagawa’s mouth, even if it wasn’t from the Akutagawa he was familiar with. It made him feel… something, but there wasn’t time to unpack that at the moment. There were far too many other pressing matters to attend to.

“Well?”

Atsushi flinched, and Akutagawa crossed his arms, clicking his tongue.

“I’m helping you. Are you coming?”

“Yes! I mean-” Atsushi looked to Dazai, who just nodded pleasantly.

“I’ll cover for you. Have fun!”

Dazai waved, wiggling his clawed fingers playfully, before hopping to his feet and scooping up the box of pastries.

“See you two lovebirds laters!”

“He’s not- I’m not-” Atsushi protested, but Dazai was already out of earshot and pleasantly humming to himself, leaving Atsushi alone with Akutagawa. Who was probably to eviscerate Atsushi, even if he said he wasn’t going to.

“So. Um. Do you have any ideas?” Atsushi asked, turning back to Akutagawa.

Akutagawa still had a rather severe expression on his face, but his posture was more relaxed, and his fins had raised slightly. He still seemed guarded, but not nearly as… hostile as he’d been earlier.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Perhaps this Akutagawa would be easier to get along with. Atsushi could only hope.


End file.
